Ties
by Empress of Ice
Summary: After two girls spend years in an orphanage, the matron allows them to enroll in Cross Academy, a prestigious boarding school. What secrets do the two carry? Will one be able to protect the other from the danger that lies in wait at the academy? Rated 'T' for possible language and violence.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Vampire Knight. If I did, it probably would've ended differently.**

**UPDATE: I fixed some grammatical errors that I failed to notice before. I apologize if there are still a few left in.  
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**Author's Note: As you've probably concluded from the story's summary, this fanfiction will feature original characters. I haven't created or written original characters since I took a Creative Writing class four years ago, so I deeply apologize if they're poorly written. I'd also like to say that I haven't written Vampire Knight fanfiction, or any type of fanfiction really, in years, so I've no clue why I wanted to start this and I apologize profusely if there's already a story with an idea similar to this. I wonder if it's because one of my friends and I had the idea years ago, but never finished coming up with plot points that could easily coincide with the canon story or something along those lines before we fell out of contact. I'd also like to admit that I have not watched or read Vampire Knight since the manga ended, so I hope that the canon characters won't be too out of character and I deeply apologize if any of them are even slightly out of character. I will be referencing the manga for major events that occur at Cross Academy, so I hope that will help to further jog my memory of each character's personality. This author's note has gotten quite lengthy, I apologize for that. Please enjoy the chapter.**

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A girl no more than fifteen years of age sat in a seat on the train next to another girl who was at least sixteen years old. The second girl was fast asleep with her head resting on top of the first's shoulder. The slightly younger girl looked over at the person who had grown to be her sister with a slight smile before she turned her attention to the necklace that was around her neck. It was a very simply necklace, a silver chain with a circular pendant that had a rather peculiar design etched onto its surface that she couldn't even begin to describe. The matron at the orphanage had given it to her mere seconds before she and her fellow orphan left for Cross Academy, a prestigious boarding school in the north. The last words she'd received from the matron hadn't stopped resounding inside her head.

"_If you take this off, Rie, your true nature will be revealed."_

Rie wondered how exactly the matron had known what she was and could only conclude that the elderly woman had been a part of the Hunter's Association, a group dedicated to killing off certain vampires, or rather beasts in human form, before she started up the orphanage. She had tried various times to accept the fact the matron, the woman who had looked after her and various other orphans over the years, had been a hunter, but she couldn't bring herself to. The matron didn't fit any of the images she'd had of vampire hunters; she was too nice, too kind to fit the image of a hunter.

"Big sister?"

Rie was drawn out of her thoughts by her friend's voice. She looked over at the older girl with concern clear in her gray eyes. "Yes? What is it?"

"How much longer until we reach Cross Academy," she yawned.

"We'll be at the station soon, Kozakura," Rie informed her. "I hope you haven't forgotten that we'll need to walk to the school."

"I know," Kozakura replied as she attempted to smooth down her shoulder length red hair.

The train halted at their stop within the hour and the two girls grabbed their suitcases then exited the car they were in. Rie found a map of the town on one of the station's walls and quickly located Cross Academy. The school was a mile or so out of town to the north. She informed Kozakura of this and the redhead groaned at the thought of having to walk through town and then another mile just to reach a school. A slight narrowing of the eyes from Rie immediately ceased Kozakura's urge to have a more verbal complaint about having to walk at least four miles.

The two set off on their trek to the academy and only stopped at a convenience store to get something to drink. Rie waited outside while the redhead went in to get some beverages. She looked up at the sky and noticed how night was quickly approaching, it was almost time for the vampires to be fully active. The girl hoped that they didn't run into any of her kind on the way to the academy since she had no desire to deal with anything or anyone from the society she'd left behind years ago.

"Wow, it's so pretty," Kozakura said as she exited the store and looked up at the sky where stars were beginning to appear.

"Yeah," Rie softly agreed after a few seconds had passed. "Let's go, we're late enough as it is."

She turned and headed in the direction of the academy, the wind blew her waist length chocolate hair all around her as it picked up.

"Sis, wait!" The redhead tightened her grip on the plastic bag before she hurried after the younger girl. "Can't we look at them for just a bit longer," she inquired when she finally caught up to her.

Rie didn't bother to look over at Kozakura because she knew that her friend already had the puppy-dog eyes readied. She knew that if she looked over at her, she'd cave instantly even though standing around to look at stars was something they couldn't afford to do at the moment. "I think," the brunette hurriedly searched for something to say in order to avoid having to look over at the redhead. "We can look at the stars anytime once we're at Cross Academy."

"Promise," Kozakura questioned, hesitant to believe her friend.

"Of course," Rie nodded to further confirm her statement. "I suppose we can sneak out if there's a curfew."

"Awesome!" The redhead's face lit up like Christmas had come early and there was a skip to her step that hadn't been there before.

The rest of their journey to Cross Academy was made in silence and they arrived at the school about an hour after the sun had fully set. They walked up the stone steps to the school's enormous wooden gate, it did nothing to stop their image of the school being like a castle since there was a high stone wall that they could only assume surrounded the campus. The large wooden gate creaked open and a petite girl who looked to be about their age stood there. She had shoulder length brown hair and cinnamon eyes, a welcoming smile was on her face. The girl wore what could only be described as the school's uniform. The uniform consisted of a white blouse underneath a black jacket, a cardinal red ribbon tied over the chest, a black miniskirt, black knee-high socks, and sepia colored boots.

"Welcome to Cross Academy," she greeted them. "I'm Yuki Cross."

"I'm Rie Wakahisa," the brunette introduced herself. "It's nice to meet you."

"And I'm Kozakura Himura," the redhead said almost immediately after Rie had stopped speaking. "It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you, Wakahisa-san. Himura-san," Yuki replied, the smile never leaving her face. "Now, if you'd please follow me, I'll take you to the Headmaster's office."

Yuki led the two to the Headmaster's office while she explained some of the rules. Most of the rules she listed off were pretty basic: no bullying, stealing, vandalism, etc. It was when she got to the rules concerning the Night Class, a group of advanced placement students that had classes as night, that the rules began to get weird. One of them was no fawning over the students in the Night Class, the two girls couldn't begin to fathom why that was a rule, but could only conclude that it had become a major issue. Another was about curfew, apparently curfew for the regular students, the Day Class, began when the Night Class' lessons began. Anyone who was caught out after curfew would face a rather severe punishment to help ensure they wouldn't make the same offense twice. There were two students, known was prefects, who enforced curfew, Yuki was one of them and her partner was some boy named Zero.

They arrived at the Headmaster's office right when Yuki finished informing them of the rules. The short brunette knocked on the door and waited for the okay before she opened it and led the two new students inside. "Here are the new students, Headmaster," she said as they approached the mahogany desk in front of the window at the back of the room.

"Why won't you call me 'Daddy'," the headmaster inquired with a tearful sounding voice.

"Head," Yuki attempted to scold him, but his crying only seemed to intensify. "The new students are here, Daddy."

The headmaster's crying stopped instantly and the three girls came to the conclusion that he had been faking it. "Thank you, Yuki," he said with a smile. "I'll take it from here."

"Of course," she replied with a small, slightly awkward smile. "I'll see you later!" Yuki promptly left and closed the door behind her to give the three some privacy in case a teacher or the other prefect passed by his office.

Rie and Kozakura turned their attention to the man who sat on a chair behind the desk. He had blonde hair tied back into a ponytail, hazel eyes and glasses sat on the bridge of his nose. He wore a green shawl over a tan coat and a dark shirt underneath. If one looked under the desk, they'd see he had on a pair of dark gray pants and fuzzy pink slippers covered his feet.

"Rie Wakahisa and Kozakura Himura, correct?" He continued once he received their confirmation. "I'm Kaien Cross, headmaster of this academy, it's a pleasure to meet you. I assume Yuki's informed you of the rules?" The two girls nodded in response. "Then there's not much left for me to go over other than your class and dorm assignment." Kaien flipped through the papers that sat on his desk as he looked for their class assignment. "It seems you two are in the same class, 1-C." The blonde further perused the papers until he came across their room assignments. "And it seems you'll share a dorm room." He moved his chair over to one of the filing cabinets that sat on the right side of his desk and opened it. Kaien grabbed a set of keys from one of the hooks and rolled his chair back to behind his desk. "Room 205," he handed the keys to Rie and Kozakura. "Yuki will show you the way. If you have any problems at all, please come talk to me, Yuki, or Zero."

"Of course," Rie replied. "Thank you, Headmaster."

The two left the headmaster's office and saw Yuki had been waiting for them. She offered them a small smile before she led them to the girl's dormitory, a little ways off from the school building. Yuki led Rie and Kozakura up to their room on the third floor and informed them that their uniforms should be in the closet before she bade them goodnight and left to continue her duties.

Rie unlocked the door and walked in with Kozakura behind her. The room was bare except for two beds and two night stands. A window was at the back of the room placed between the two beds while a closet was situated at the right of the room, a dresser placed next to it. Rie approached the closet and opened it to find four uniforms, two for her and two for Kozakura. She placed her suitcase inside the closet since she had no intention of dealing with it tonight then shut the door.

Kozakura entered the room, closed the door behind her, then set her suitcase at the foot of the bed she'd use for their time at Cross Academy. She flopped down onto the bed and couldn't help but notice that it was more comfortable than her one at the orphanage. Kozakura closed her amber eyes as she sighed in contentment and snuggled her head further into the soft pillow. Her snoring filled the room within seconds, slightly startling Rie.

Rie looked over at Kozakura and softly smiled at how peaceful her friend looked when she was fast asleep, a time when the world just faded away for her. She knew that the redhead had been living with the matron for as long as she could remember, so she was glad that dreams of what happened to her parents most likely didn't haunt her. That's not to say that Kozakura didn't have dreams about her real parents from time to time, she did, but she had grown up with the matron looking after her that the question of what her parents were like didn't bother her as much since, as far as she was concerned, the matron had been the best mother she could've asked for.

Rie forced herself to stop thinking and to possibly allow herself to get some rest. She took off her sneakers then proceeded to the bed her friend hadn't claimed, the one closest to the left wall. The brunette carefully laid down on her bed and, after reassuring herself that her friend wouldn't need her for the rest of the night, fell asleep.

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**Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed the chapter and that everyone shown so far was in character! If anyone shown was way too out of character, I apologize and I will be further refreshing my memory on how each individual character acts for upcoming chapters. I also apologize if the way it was written seemed rather... unskilled, for lack of a better word. I haven't written in quite some time, so my writing skills are fairly rusty. Until next time.**


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own nor am I in any way affiliated with Vampire Knight.**

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Rie and Kozakura had been at Cross Academy for around a month and, so far, the brunette had been able to avoid having anything to do with the Night Class. Kozakura had gone to see what exactly was so entrancing about the other students at the academy and, once she had seen them, she had been annoying Rie about it ever since. Although a glare directed at the redhead made her shut up about the Night Class students, it was only a matter of time before she started up again. Rie wanted nothing to do with the other students since she had smelled the scent of vampires in the school building when she and Kozakura had first entered it to get to their classes. She had no idea how she had missed the stench of other vampires the night they had arrived, but could only conclude that it was because she had been tired from traveling.

Once classes ended, Rie headed towards the girl's dorm while practically every other person of her gender headed off to see the Night Class go to class. She was glad that at least a few members of her gender had little to no interest in the other class and were also heading to the dorm. The brunette was almost to the doors when someone rather unexpectedly ran into her and grabbed her arm. Rie looked to her right, prepared to tell whoever invaded her personal space off. She managed to stop any sort of sound from escaping her mouth when she saw that it was simply Kozakura.

"You gotta come and see them," the redhead pestered her for what had to be the millionth time. "They remind me of you, Sis!"

Rie resisted the urge to roll her eyes since her friend's reasoning for trying to drag her to see the Night Class was almost always the same. If it wasn't telling her that they were gorgeous, there was something mysterious about them, or the Day Class students were bound to give the prefects a hard time that day; it was using the they reminded Kozakura of her excuse. Frankly, Rie was getting tired of always hearing the same old reasons and was beginning to wonder when Kozakura would give up on trying to get her to watch the Night Class go to their lessons.

"We've had this discussion before, Kozakura," the brunette reminded her friend. "You will never get me to come and see what all the fuss is about concerning the Night Class."

"Please, just once," she begged. "If you come this time, I promise I won't bug you about it again."

Rie softly bit her lower lip as she thought. On one hand, if she went with her friend, she'd never be annoyed about it again. On the other hand, it could all be an elaborate trap to try and get her as addicted to the vampire class as almost every other girl was and, if it didn't work out this time, Kozakura would continue to annoy her about the Night Class. She sighed as she realized that she'd risk the second outcome in an attempt to get the redhead off her back about the whole Night Class thing.

"Just this once?" Kozakura nodded in response. "... Okay."

A bright smile appeared on the redhead's face. "Come on! We gotta hurry!"

Kozakura tightened her grip on Rie's arm before she ran with, more like dragged, her over to the Moon Dormitory. The redhead pulled the brunette to the front of the crowd that had started to form on either side of the walkway, Yuki was doing her best to keep the girls from surrounding the gate. Rie looked around and noticed that Zero wasn't around and wondered if he ever bothered to show up to help his partner with crowd control. She doubted it since he had a notorious habit for skipping, and sleeping through, class.

"Is it always like this," the brunette asked her friend.

"Yeah," she replied as if it were no big deal. "Kuran-senpai does his best to make it easier for Yuki-san if Kiryu-kun doesn't show though."

Anxiety formed in the pit of Rie's stomach, she had known a pureblood had attended the academy, but she had been unaware that it was Kaname Kuran, the last of one of the oldest pureblood bloodlines. He'd surely be able to sense her through the charm the matron had given her. This was one of the reasons she had avoided the Night Class, fear of being found out and being forced to transfer into their class. She didn't want that to happen, not even for her own sake, but for Kozakura's. The two had been practically inseparable for seven years that Rie didn't know how her friend would react to being separated from her.

"Are you alright, Sister," Kozakura inquired. "You don't look too good."

"No, I'm fine," Rie looked over at the redhead with what she hoped was a reassuring expression. She continued when her friend looked unconvinced. "It's really nothing, Koko-chan."

"Okay," she gave in. "If you're sure..."

Rie wasn't given the chance to further reassure her friend that she was perfectly fine since the gate that led to the Moon Dorm creaked open. The screaming from the girls seemed to intensify as the Night Class began to walk down the path to school. The first thing Rie noticed was the difference in their uniforms, the colors were inverted, so what was black on hers was white on theirs.

The leader of the group was a boy who looked to be about seventeen, he had unkempt blonde hair and icy blue eyes. The screaming from the girls seemed to grow louder still as he made the gun symbol with one of his hands and said, "bang". As the blonde was surrounded by girls, Rie moved her attention to the next person in the rather organized line, a rather tall boy who also looked to be seventeen with messy dark blonde, that could be considered a light orange, hair and chocolate brown eyes. His skin was tanner than any of the vampires Rie had seen and she briefly wondered if he was actually a human, but his presence screamed that he was a beast in human form. He had a silver hoop earring in his left ear and wore his uniform improperly, leaving the white jacket unbuttoned and the top few buttons of his black dress shirt undone. Next was a boy who was a few inches shorter than the one in line before him. He had blonde hair and green eyes. This boy appeared to be the most human-like out of all the Night Class students and Rie guessed that it had to do with the natural looking smile on his face. The next student was a fairly beautiful girl who also appeared to be seventeen. She had light brown hair that fell to her waist in waves and her eyes were also a light brown. A girl who looked to be one of the youngest members of the Night Class exited the gate next. She looked like a porcelain doll and Rie briefly wondered if she wasn't actually a walking doll, but quickly dismissed the absurd thought. The girl had light orange hair that was held up in two pigtails by black ribbons and cerulean blue eyes. Next to her was a boy with mahogany colored hair and light blue, almost silvery, eyes. The boy was sharing pocky with the doll-like girl. At the end of the group was a girl that seemed to blend into the background with silver hair and eyes. She appeared to be shorter than the girl with light brown hair, but taller than the one with pigtails. The girl had an unwelcoming air around her and Rie wondered if she was Kaname's bodyguard since it looked like she was able to hold her own in a fight and she also seemed to have a no-nonsense attitude if her expression was anything to go by. If that was the case, then where was the pureblood that was supposed to attend the academy?

Rie didn't have to wait long for her question to be answered since a rather intense presence appeared from the gates. A boy around eighteen years of age appeared on the path. He had brown hair that reached the back of his neck and brown eyes that seemed to have a red tint. He looked to be the same height as the blonde with green eyes, but he carried himself far differently, more regally. Rie could only guess that he was Kaname Kuran.

Rie hoped the anxiety she felt didn't appear on her face as the pureblood followed the path to school. Kaname only stopped for a few seconds to say hello to Yuki before continuing on his way. Rie tensed as he drew closer to where she stood and, as he passed, she swore that he looked at her out of the corner of his eye with a rather unreadable look, almost as if he was attempting to see through the spell in place, but he didn't stop to even address a possible suspicion.

Rie allowed herself to relax when he got further away from her and a sigh of relief escaped her lips. She had no idea if Kaname had been fooled, but she sincerely hoped he had. The brunette didn't want anyone to know that she was actually a vampire and she definitely didn't want anything further to do with the Night Class. Rie knew that, if Kaname had seen through the charm, he'd inform the headmaster as soon as possible. On the off chance the pureblood hadn't noticed she was in fact a vampire, she knew deep down that it was only a matter of time before her secret was out.

"Hey, are you okay," Kozakura inquired when she noticed that her friend was staring blankly ahead.

"I'm fine," she replied.

"Are you sure," the redhead asked when the expression on her friend's face still looked distant.

"I told you I'm fine," Rie's tone was far more harsh than she had intended. Her expression softened when she saw the concerned and slightly scared look on the redhead's face. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Kozakura offered her a bright smile before she turned and headed towards the dorm. Rie followed her after a few moments had passed and quickly caught up with her. "So, what'd you think of the Night Class?"

"They're nothing special," she answered without a moment of hesitation.

"Nothing special," the redhead sounded as if she had heard the most obscure thing in the world. "How can you think that? I mean the entire class is filled with geniuses!"

"Easily," Rie replied, not missing a beat.

"Jeez," Kozakura dragged the word out how emphasize her displeasure at her friend's attitude. "You're so mean, Sis."

"Better than swooning over them like a love-struck baboon." She opened the door to the dormitory and walked inside with Kozakura.

The redhead giggled, "I guess so." A look of horror crossed her face as she stopped and searched through her bag. "Oh, no!"

"Hm?" Rie stopped and turned around to look at her friend.

"I totally forget to return this book to the library," she panicked. "I gotta go!"

"This is the fifth time, Koko-chan," the brunette sighed. "Hurry up or else you'll never hear the end of it."

"Yeah!" She began to run off down the hall, but stopped and turned around. "Meet me at the tree after curfew's in full effect!"

Kozakura continued her sprint to the library before Rie had a chance to respond. The brunette was left to wonder why Kozakura wanted to meet at the tree on a Thursday and wondered if she wanted to discuss a topic that she didn't want anyone in the dorm to hear, the walls were fairly thin so it was difficult to have a private conversation. She resumed her trek to their room where she'd hopefully finish her schoolwork before she had to sneak out to meet Kozakura.

Rie stood up from one of the two desks that had been placed in the room a few days after their arrival and stretched out her sore muscles. She knew better than to sit in one place for too long, but, when Kozakura was around while she did her homework, she was rarely ever able to complete it without a load of guessing. The brunette looked out of the lone window and noticed that night had fallen, probably quite some time ago. She turned her attention to the alarm clock on her nightstand and saw it was nearly midnight. Her gray eyes widened as she realized that she was late and Kozakura would probably tease her about it after yelling at her.

Rie didn't bother to straighten her uniform as she ran out of the door while putting her shoes on. She was grateful that being a vampire made her have great balance otherwise she would've fallen over quite a few times on her way out of the dorm. The brunette rushed to one of the few sakura trees on campus, hoping that Kozakura was at the one nearest the dormitory. She slowed as she neared the tree and only stopped for a few seconds to survey the area. Rie nearly cursed due to the fact Kozakura wasn't there before she sprinted in the direction of the one in between the dorms and school building.

Rie reached that tree in record time and scanned the area. She grew more worried when the redhead wasn't there either. The brunette took off towards the tree nearest the school building and hoped that her friend was there and hadn't been harmed in any possible way. Her panic grew as she ran towards the school since her mind was fully registering that the Night Class were in the middle of their lectures. Rie had no idea how she'd react if Kozakura had been found by one of those monsters.

Rie was nearly out of breath by the time she reached the flowerless tree. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw Kozakura laying down at the base of the tree. The brunette slowed her sprint down to a walk when she was within a few meters of the tree.

"I'm sorry for being so late," she apologize when she was within a few feet of her friend. "I lost track of time. It won't happen again." Rie grew concerned when Kozakura didn't reply. "Koko-chan," her voice was hesitant. "Kozakura?"

Worry filled Rie at the redhead's lack of response then she noticed her friend's closed eyes. The brunette took a few steps forward until she was by the redhead's side then knelt down and gently shook Kozakura by her shoulder, but the other girl didn't stir. Her eyes widened for a split second as she sensed a presence that didn't belong to either of the prefects. Rie's eyes narrowed as her mind processed it as a Level B, a noble, vampire's and that they were getting closer by the second. She waited until she heard their footsteps before she stood up and straightened to her full height of five foot three.

Rie spun around and kicked the person when she was positive they were within her leg's reach. Her opponent let out a yelp when they flew a few feet back and landed on the cold hard ground. When he tried to get back up, she rushed over to him and kicked him back to the ground. Rie placed one of her feet on his chest in an attempt to keep him from trying to stand up again.

"Have you come to finish her off," her voice was colder than ice could ever hope to be.

"What," the blonde's tone was filled with anger and confusion. "I didn't do anything!"

"Don't play dumb with me, vampire," Rie spat the last word out like it was poison as she shifted more of her weight to her right foot in order to increase the pressure on his chest.

His demeanor changed to one of curiosity at the mention of vampires, no one from the Day Class except for the prefects knew about their existence after all. "How do you know that? Are you a hunter?"

"That's none of your business," she told him before she dug the heel of her shoe further into his chest. "Just admit that you did something to the girl!"

"Sister, what are you doing?"

Rie turned her attention to where the voice came from and saw that Kozakura was awake. She abandoned her suspect and rushed over to the redhead, embracing her when she was within reach then held her out at arm's length. The brunette checked Kozakura over for any visible injuries. "Are you hurt anywhere," she inquired when she saw none.

"No, I'm fine," the redhead replied with a reassuring smile.

Unable to form words to communicate her relief, Rie pulled Kozakura in for another hug as she let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. She released her friend after a few seconds and turned to face the blonde who had gotten to his feet while she was distracted. Rie stood protectively in front of Kozakura as she narrowed her gray eyes into a glare that would've sent him six feet under if an expression had the ability to kill.

"If you come near her again, I'll kill you," she told him despite the fact the entire situation was a huge misunderstanding.

The blonde watched as Rie linked her arm with Kozakura's, probably to ensure that she wouldn't fall behind, as she took off towards the Sun Dormitory. He wondered how the brunette had known about the existence of vampires despite her claim about not being a hunter. He hadn't sensed anything that indicted she was one, but there wasn't any proof she wasn't either, her kick had been far more powerful than an average human's after all. The blonde decided it would be best to report the incident to Kaname once he had found out more about the situation.

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**Author's Note: I will be updating on Sundays and the exact date can be found on my profile. If there is a sudden and unexpected change to the schedule, you will be able to find the news somewhere on my profile. Until next time.**


	3. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own nor am I in any way affiliated with Vampire Knight.  
**

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Daybreak came far too quickly for Rie's liking since it meant that it was their day off, thus meaning Kozakura would drag her off campus to somewhere in town. She buried her face further into the pillow as she decided that she'd rather feign illness than be dragged around town by the redhead or, worse, questioned by her about last night. Rie stiffened as she heard the door open, signaling that Kozakura had returned from her shower and would wake her up in a few minutes. The brunette hoped that it'd magically be Monday, but she knew that no deity would be kind enough to grant her wish.

Rie felt a small hand land on her shoulder and she felt herself begin to be shaken. "Hey, Big Sister, wake up," Kozakura's voice sounded from the side of her bed. "C'mon! You can't sleep all day!" The shaking stopped and Rie knew that it was only a matter of time before she'd be forcibly dragged out of bed.

"I'm up," the brunette shouted as she felt hands grasp her ankles.

Rie got out of bed once Kozakura released her ankles and stretched. She looked over at her friend who, at first glance, had an innocent expression, but, if one knew her well enough, they'd see the amusement in her amber eyes. Rie noticed that Kozakura was dressed for the day which definitely meant they were going to town. The redhead wore a purple off shoulder sweater, a black skirt that was a little longer than the uniform's, black leggings, and brown heeled boots.

"You have ten minutes," were the only words that left Kozakura's mouth before Rie grabbed her bathroom bag and some clothes then rushed to the shower.

Rie returned to their room with three minutes to spare dressed in a short black pea coat over a simple white blouse, beige pants, and plain black heeled boots. She set her bathroom bag back in the bottom of the closet then went over to the mirror near the door and put her wavy hair up into her usual simple chignon. Rie went back to the closet after she was sure her hair was securely up and grabbed her black purse since it was her turn to pay for their outing. Rie sent a look that stated it was time for them to leave in Kozakura's direction before she left the room, knowing that her friend would be right behind her. The two left Cross Academy and went to the town.

"So, what did you really think of the Night Class," Kozakura inquired once they had gotten coffee and a few pastries at a quaint cafe.

"Not this again," Rie muttered after she had taken a sip of her coffee.

"Yes, this again," she replied. "You can't just hate them for no reason!"

"You know what I am," the brunette calmly reminded her friend. "So you should know what they are, especially after last night."

"You mean they're all," the redhead trailed off, knowing better than to say the word when people could be listening in on their conversation.

"Yes." Rie took a bite of a rather flaky pastry. "Why," she asked once she had swallowed the bite. "Don't tell me..." The brunette's eyes widened when Kozakura didn't reply. The redhead merely nervously giggled in response to her friend's realization. Rie took a calming breath before she saw it fit to speak again. "What happened to your crush on...?"

"Well, I, uh," Kozakura stumbled about with her words before she grabbed a pastry and shoved half of it into her mouth. "This is a good pastry," she somehow managed to say much to Rie's displeasure.

Rie handed Kozakura a napkin as she wondered where exactly she and the matron went wrong when they taught manners to the redhead. "I suppose you want me to help you with St. Xocolatl's Day than."

St. Xocolatl's Day was a holiday where girls gave chocolate to close friends out of obligation and a special chocolate to their crush. If a girl was capable of cooking, they'd generally give a homemade one to their crush while their friends received store-bought, but it wasn't unheard of for someone to give homemade chocolate to their friends. St. Xocolatl's Day had always posed a problem for Kozakura since she wasn't exactly the greatest at cooking since she always deviated from the recipe, claiming that it was just a guideline that didn't need to be followed word for word. Her deviations had led to some rather inedible dishes, like a curry with both gritty and slimy parts. Despite the fact she'd been told various times her cooking wasn't at all edible, she kept claiming that only people with mature tastes would be able to enjoy her food.

"Yes," came Kozakura's soft and embarrassed reply. Rie could hardly believe her ears at her friend's admittance since she firmly believed she could cook anything. "Just don't get the wrong idea," the redhead continued when she noticed her friend's mirthful expression. "I just want to make sure it's perfect!"

Rie thought for a few minutes since St. Xocolatl's Day was six days away, not enough time to improve Kozakura's cooking skill, at least not to the point where she'd be able to make something from scratch. Since that was the case, she'd have to do a majority, if not all, of the work if she agreed. The brunette didn't exactly want to waste her time on such a silly holiday and, as she turned her attention back to her friend, prepared to say that she would not help, she stopped. Kozakura was using the puppy-dog eyes and pout to ensure that Rie would go along with her wish.

"Okay," she sighed as she relented. "I'll help."

Kozakura's eyes lit up once the brunette's words registered in her mind and she nearly jumped up to go and hug her friend, but she somehow managed to restrain herself. "Thank you so much!" She brightly smiled before she returned to her pastry and coffee.

Once they had paid the bill at the cafe, they went to the store and bought ingredients to make miso soup and rice balls, two of the easiest things that Rie could think of. According to the brunette, it was best to start with basic recipes then work your way up. Due to Kozakura's insistence, they bought the ingredients for homemade chocolate, something that Rie was still positive the redhead would mess up. Since the brunette was positive she'd be the one who ended up making the chocolate, she bought the ingredients for truffles.

Rie didn't think much of it when Kozakura decided to wander off while the cashier placed their purchase into a couple of bags since she was used to the redhead growing bored and leaving to window shop. It was when the brunette left the shop and couldn't sense her friend nearby when she grew worried. Rie knew that Kozakura wouldn't go too far away, especially if it was in a town they still weren't all that used to. The brunette took a deep breath to help clear her senses then proceeded to try and distinguish her friend's scent out of the crowd's.

Rie's eyes widened when the smell of blood hit her nose and she instantly rushed in the direction the odor was coming from since the scent was all too familiar to her. She came across an alleyway within one minute and turned down it. There was a turn at the end of the alley and she saw a man with light hair in what could only be described as a business uniform too close to her friend for her liking. Rie sensed that the man was a Level E vampire, a turned human who had lost all their sanity. Her eyes flashed crimson for a split second as the man flew into the wall opposite Kozakura.

Rie sprinted down the path and stood between the former human and her friend. The vampire recovered and rushed towards them with an expression like that of a wild animal's on his face. The brunette kicked him in the stomach once he was close enough and her eyes widened when he merely shrugged it off as if someone had merely tapped him on the shoulder. Rie managed to regain her senses as he reached out to grab her and she hit him with one of the plastic bags.

The Level E seemed rather surprised that someone would hit him with a bag full of groceries as he took a few steps back and looked at her. He recovered from his astonishment and dashed towards the two girls once more, determined to kill them. A shot rang out and he turned to dust before he could reach the two again.

Once the dust settled on the ground, the two girls looked in the direction the shot sounded from and were amazed to see that their savior was the male prefect, Zero Kiryu. Zero had silver hair that reached the nape of his neck, which had a rather peculiar tattoo on the left side, and cold lavender eyes. He had three silver earrings in the cartilage on the top of his left ear and two silver hoop earrings in the bottom of his right one. Like them, Zero was in casual clothing, his consisted of a light blue jacket over a white shirt, blue pants, and brown shoes.

Rie and Kozakura watched him place the gun in a holster hidden by his coat then look at them with what could only be considered irritation. Zero's look simply said that they had to come with him back to the academy immediately. The two girls knew that they'd most likely be taken straight to the headmaster, but they weren't entirely sure what would happen next. Rie had a feeling that one of the vampires would be called in to erase their memory of the day's events, but, to do that, they'd need to dig through their memories to find the correct one. That was not something the brunette wanted since her secret would surely be found out, so she knew that she'd have to do whatever it took to avoid having her memory altered.

"Let's go," Zero's harsh voice broke through Rie's thoughts.

Rie and Kozakura followed Zero out of the alley and back to Cross Academy. The redhead had attached herself to the brunette's side, still reeling from what had transpired when she had wandered off. Rie inspected her friend as best she could and noticed that there were a few scratches on her face, there were probably more that she was unable to see. The brunette was glad that the Level E was dead, although she wished she had been the one to annihilate it.

As they expected, Zero led them straight to where the headmaster was, in his office taking care of important paperwork. Kaien hardly looked up when they entered the room, the only acknowledgment the three got was a very slight nod that would've been missed if one hadn't been paying attention. Zero made sure to stand in front of the door once the two girls were inside to ensure that they wouldn't try to leave and, if they did, that they wouldn't make it very far.

The minutes ticked by as Kaien finished up with the document he had been reading. He only turned his attention to them after he had grabbed a pen and signed the paper. The headmaster quickly assessed the situation by the rather irritated expression Zero had and the terrified one on Kozakura's face. Before he could open his mouth to ask a question, Rie spoke up.

"Kozakura and I were attacked by a rogue vampire." Kaien and Zero were astonished by the lack of horror in her voice. "Kiryu-kun saved us before it could kill us."

"You know about vampires," the headmaster inquired as calmly as he could. "How?"

"Yes," the brunette answered. "The matron used to tell us stories about them and I believe a few of the volunteers were vampires."

"I see," Kaien sighed. "It wouldn't be right to alter your memories if you already know."

"There are also vampires at this school, aren't there," Kozakura spoke up, her voice shaky. "And the purpose of prefects is to protect that secret, right?"

"How'd you," the headmaster was shocked that they had figured out Cross Academy's secret.

"It doesn't matter," the redhead replied. "What if, in exchange for keeping it a secret, we help Yuki-san and Kiryu-kun protect it as well?"

Kaien adopted a thoughtful expression and Zero was outraged when he noticed it since it meant that he was seriously considering the redhead's offer. He was positive that he and Yuki could handle keeping the Night Class' secret hidden from the student body and that others would merely complicate matters.

"You can't be serious," Zero told the headmaster. "You can't seriously be considering their offer, can you?"

"I am," the headmaster informed the youth. "You and Yuki seem so stressed recently. Not even seeing her Daddy's face can help my dear daughter anymore..." Kaien quickly composed himself. "As of tomorrow, Himura-san and Wakahisa-san will be Guardians alongside you and Yuki. Come see me tomorrow after your classes for further details."

The headmaster did and said nothing as Zero stormed out of the room, obviously displeased with the turn of events. Rie had a feeling that their schoolmate wouldn't like it one bit, but she had little to no control over the matter. If it had been up to her, Kozakura wouldn't be further involved with vampires, but she hadn't been able to voice her opinion during the conversation. The brunette had been far too shocked at Kozakura's offer to find her voice, to speak up against it.

The walk to their dorm was made in complete and utter silence, Kozakura being too scared to say anything while Rie was still trying to wrap her mind around the fact that they'd be prefects or, rather, Guardians starting tomorrow. Kozakura's intention was quite obvious to Rie, she had wanted to ensure that they wouldn't get into further trouble by offering their assistance. There was also the possibility that the redhead was using it was a way to get closer to the Night Class, something she knew that her friend would disapprove. If that was the case, then it made no sense to the brunette as to why she had been dragged into the proposition.

"I'm sorry," Kozakura spoke once they were safely inside their room.

"It's okay," Rie replied, somehow managing to keep her voice and face neutral. "Get some rest. We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow."

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**Author's Note: This chapter went against my original idea, but something similar to the events in this one were going to happen sooner or later I suppose since I don't want to stray too far from the original concept. I guess that it was a good thing the events happened sooner than originally planned so I can finish the introductory phase quicker and get to the more interesting things. Until next time.  
**


	4. Chapter 4

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own nor am I in any way, shape, or form affiliated with Vampire Knight.**

**Author's Note: I realize that this is an hour early (where I am at least), but I have no idea when I'll be able to update tomorrow. Due to that, I decided to release this chapter a little early. I hope you enjoy it!**

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After their break for lunch, classes began to fly by far too quickly for their liking and their nervousness increased. By the time classes had ended for the day, Kozakura was doing her best to hide her anxiety while Rie had to force herself to stay calm in order to assure her friend that everything would be okay. The two left the classroom and headed to the headmaster's office for their meeting, both hoped that it would last until just after class changeover so the Day Class students who went crazy over the Night Class wouldn't give them any trouble on their first day. They were positive that the student body knew about the two new additions to the Disciplinary Committee, as it was called on school documents, and they didn't want to deal with any type of outrage until they had gotten used to their new responsibilities.

Rie glanced over at Kozakura who anxiously smiled at her before she knocked on the door. The two didn't have to wait long before they received the okay to enter. Kozakura took a deep breath before she followed her friend into the room. The two girls stood a few feet in front of the headmaster's desk on which they saw two armbands and, in an open wooden cupboard against the left wall, various different weapons. Rie recognized them as anti-vampire weapons while Kozakura looked at them with confusion etched on her face.

"I see you've noticed the weapons," Kaien began with a neutral expression. "They're incredibly strong against vampires and are known as anti-vampire weapons. All Guardians have one, Yuki has a staff while Zero has a gun." Even though Kozakura knew Zero used a gun, her face paled as it was confirmed. "They are only to be used in dire situations. Pick the one that's most comfortable for you."

"O-okay," the redhead slowly approached the cabinet.

Kozakura was instantly drawn to the few swords that resided inside the cupboard and looked them over. After careful deliberation, she reached out and grabbed a rapier. The redhead took a few steps back as she unsheathed it and did a few small test pokes with it to further get a feel for the sword. When she was satisfied that the rapier was the weapon for her, she put it back in its scabbard and moved back to Rie's side.

"Figures you'd pick that," the brunette lightly teased. "You always did have an interest in fencing."

"I'll teach you how to properly wield it starting tomorrow directly after class." The headmaster grabbed a light brown belt from inside his desk and handed it to her. Kozakura put the belt on around her waist then attached the sheath to it. It wasn't discrete at all, but it would have to do for the time being. Kaien spoke again when he noticed that Rie didn't appear to have an interest in the weaponry, "What about you, Wakahisa-san?"

"Oh, Sis is really good at martial arts," Kozakura answered before her friend could even open her mouth. "I doubt she needs a weapon."

"Is that true," he inquired as he looked at her over the top of his glasses.

"Yes," she replied. "The matron was kind enough to pay for my lessons."

Kaien studied her for a few moments, as if he was trying to catch her in a lie. He continued once he was satisfied that she was being honest, "I see. I'd like to see you with Himura-san tomorrow so I can see your skills for myself." The headmaster handed them the white armbands that had the school symbol stitched into it with red thread. "These go on your left arm and must be worn whenever you are on duty." Rie and Kozakura deftly put their armbands in place as they listened to Kaien speak. "Your job begins as soon as class changeover occurs and ends at dawn." He paused for a few moments for them to process the information. "If you see a Day Class student outside before curfew lifts, get their names and class information then escort them to the dorm. Report the incident to me as soon as you can in the morning. Now the Night Class works a bit differently since the members are not required to attend class. If it's a student from the Night Class, send them to class or to their dormitory. Make sure that they go to their destination then continue on with your patrol." The two nodded in understanding. "Any questions?" Kaien continued when neither of them said anything. "You'll be patrolling with Zero and Yuki for the first week, they've already been informed and they'll decide how you split up. They'll also give you information on the more troublesome members of the Night Class." The two nodded once again. "Now, I believe if you don't leave now you'll be late and you don't want to leave my darling son and loving daughter waiting, do you?"

"N-no, sir," Rie replied, her eyes slightly widened at his abrupt change of attitude.

"Then get going! I'm sure they're excited to start working with you," he kindly smiled at them as they promptly left the room.

The gate to the Moon Dormitory was in the process of opening by the time Rie and Kozakura arrived. They saw that Yuki was having trouble dealing with her side of the student body while Zero was keeping the other side in check with what could only be described as glares of death. The two girls exchanged a look before they rushed over to help Yuki. Rie decided that Zero's course of action was the most effective and sent the Day Class students her most intense glare. The ones who noticed her expression calmed down a bit since they had no clue if she'd yell at them like Zero had various times in the past or if she would be all bark and no bite like Yuki. The ones who paid no heed to her look continued to try and get on the pathway to the school, they knocked Yuki down then some ran over to the boy with blonde hair and blue eyes shortly after he appeared on the walkway.

"No need to push," the blonde suavely said to the girls before he made the familiar gun motion with one of his hands. "And bang!" He continued down the path once he had pointed at a random girl.

Kozakura rushed over to Yuki and helped her up, the brunette smiled at her in appreciation. The two then proceeded to try and get the girls under control, knowing that either Zero or Rie would deal with the ones that had gotten onto the path. A few of the students backed away when they noticed that Kozakura had a sword at her side, they looked at her with confusion and fear. The redhead failed to notice their stares.

"Yuki, are you alright," Kaname inquired as he approached her.

"Uh," a faint blush appeared on her cheeks. "Y-yeah, I'm fine..."

"Shouldn't you be getting to class, Kuran-senpai," Rie questioned as she approached the pair.

"As long as you're okay, Yuki," Kaname offered her a gentle smile before he turned and walked away.

A slight frown tugged at Kaname's lips as his thoughts wandered to the new prefects, he had been informed by the headmaster that there would be two additions to the Disciplinary Committee, but he hadn't anticipated one of them reminding him of Zero in terms of how they approached him. He recognized the one who had spoken to him as the brunette from the other day that had seemed especially anxious for some reason or another. Something didn't seem right about her, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what. Kaname ultimately decided that he'd worry about her unnatural aura at a later date since there were more pressing matters that needed his attention.

The Day Class students went to their dorms as soon as the Night Class students were out of sight. The four guardians let out a small sigh at the fact that they wouldn't have to deal with high pitched squealing until tomorrow. Rie's headache was far worse than the other three's since she wasn't used to all that shouting, not to mention her hearing was far more sensitive than that of a human's. She wondered how the Night Class had gotten used to the constant screaming from the Day Class students and came to the rather silly thought of them using ear plugs in an attempt to drown out the noise. The brunette would not be surprised if that turned out to be true.

"Zero," Yuki broke the silence that had settled over them. "You and Rie-san should take the school building and Sun Dormitory while Kozakura-san and I patrol the grounds and Moon Dormitory."

"Let's go," was all Zero said to show he was alright with the arrangement.

"Don't cause too much trouble for Yuki-san, alright," Rie told Kozakura before she followed Zero to the school building.

Kozakura followed Yuki around the grounds as she listened to the brunette further explain their responsibilities to her. Apparently if one of the Day Class students happened to find out the Night Class' secret, they were to be taken immediately to the headmaster to have their memory modified. Yuki assured her that that had only happened once so far and that Kaname would most likely take care of it himself. She then went on to talk about the Night Class members that caused the most problems for her and Zero.

The ones who skipped class most often were Hanabusa Aidou, the boy with blonde hair and blue eyes, and Akatsuki Kain, the boy with dark blonde hair and brown eyes. According to Yuki, Aidou was bound to cause problems while Kain was more laid-back and generally listened to the guardian's requests. Ruka Souen, the girl with wavy light brown hair and brown eyes, hardly skipped class and, when she did, she generally had a good reason for it. Rima Touya, the girl with light orange hair in two pigtails and blue eyes, and Senri Shiki, the boy with mahogany hair and light blue eyes, also hardly skipped class and, in Yuki's opinion, wouldn't cause any problems at all. Then there was Takuma Ichijou, the boy with blonde hair and green eyes, he apparently never skipped class and, if he ever decided to, Yuki was sure that he would be the least likely to cause any type of issue and that he'd have a good explanation. Lastly there was Seiren, the girl with short silver hair and matching eyes, she had never caused any sort of problem for the Disciplinary Committee, she had a tendency to help keep situations under control, especially if said situation was caused by Aidou or Kaname specifically asked her to help them.

Yuki also informed Kozakura that Kaname would leave class from time to time when he had to speak with the headmaster about important matters and to not worry if she were to ever see him. As if to prove that he could be trusted, she told Kozakura how Kaname had saved her from a rogue vampire when she was just five years old. The redhead could tell by the way Yuki spoke that she deeply admired the pureblood and that she sincerely felt that he would never hurt anyone unless there was no other option.

The rest of their patrol was done in silence as Kozakura thought about all the information Yuki had given her. If what the brunette had told her was completely true, then did that mean that there was really no reason to dislike vampires. From the sound of it, Rie had no reason to hate vampires, so Kozakura wondered if her friend was in the wrong by despising them. Then again, there also seemed like there was no real reason to be afraid of vampires since they didn't necessarily need blood to survive, but the world still kept them a secret, probably afraid of how everyone would react. Either way, Kozakura wanted to know Rie's opinion on keeping vampires a secret and what her story was since the brunette was rather good at avoiding the topic whenever it came up. The redhead resolved to ask her friend as soon as she could.

* * *

Once Zero had finished informing Rie on what to expect from the members of the Night Class, they walked together in a rather comfortable silence. Rie had realized that, from Zero's description, the one she had assaulted was known as Hanabusa Aidou and he apparently caused a lot of problems for the guardians. If that was the case, she didn't regret attacking him when he had wandered over to where Kozakura was the other night. Although, a voice in the back of her head reminded her that the situation was primarily her and Kozakura's fault for breaking the rules in the first place; Aidou had just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Rie refused to admit that the voice was right as she and Zero continued to patrol in silence.

"Let's go," was all Zero said when it was time for them to head back to the Moon Dorm's gate to make sure that all the Night Class students were safely inside their dorm before curfew lifted for the Day Class students.

The two made their way to the Moon Dormitory in silence and saw that Kozakura and Yuki had beaten them there. Yuki offered Zero and Rie a tired smile while Kozakura seemed dead on her feet from a sleepless night. After confirming that there had been no Day Class students out that night and none of the vampires had acted out, Zero and Yuki quit talking and waited with Kozakura and Rie for the arrival of the Night Class.

A few minutes passed before the Night Class students came into view, none of them appeared tired despite the fact the sun was in the process of rising. Kozakura kindly bid each vampire a good night as they passed her and Yuki stood by the redhead's side and offered each one a tired smile while Rie and Zero merely watched the students return to their dorm. When Kaname approached the dorm, he stopped when he was by Yuki and turned to look at her.

"Thank you for all your hard work," his voice was gentle as he spoke to her. "Please, be careful."

"Y-yeah, of course," Yuki stuttered out before she offered him a bright smile.

Kaname offered her a small, gentle smile before he turned and headed into the dormitory. The gate creaked close once he was on the dormitory's grounds. Once the wooden gate was completely shut, Zero turned around and headed in the direction of the boy's dormitory.

"So what now," Kozakura inquired as she watched Zero walk off.

"We get whatever sleep we can," Yuki informed her.

"Oh thank God," the redhead shouted in relief.

"We only have a few hours until class starts," Rie reminded her. "So it won't be much."

"Don't remind me," Kozakura sighed as the three headed towards the girl's dormitory.

"How was patrolling with Zero," Yuki questioned. "Did he do or say anything mean?"

"It was fine," Rie replied. "Kiryu-kun didn't say much to be honest."

"Good," the slightly shorter brunette said. "He wasn't exactly happy when he told me that you two were going to be guardians with us."

"I can imagine," the other brunette responded. "It does seem rather dangerous."

"It's not all that dangerous," Yuki told her. "The Night Class students are generally very well-mannered and the Day Class students are easy enough to deal with."

"I'll take your word for it than," Rie knew that it was best not to try and argue with Yuki. "We'll see you in class."

Upon entering the dormitory, Rie and Kozakura headed directly to their room while Yuki stayed behind to close the dorm's door. Kozakura jumped onto her bed as soon as they entered the room and snuggled her face into her pillow. Rie sighed then approached her friend and undid the belt around the redhead's waist. She carefully slid the belt out from under her friend's side then walked over to Kozakura's desk and placed the rapier and its accessories on top of it. The brunette wondered how her friend had completely forgotten about that before she decided to jump onto her bed. Rie came to the realization that she'd never understand how Kozakura could be so forgetful.

Rie looked at the clock that hung on the wall and saw that there were only two hours before classes started. She knew that it would be pointless for her to try and sleep at that point. The brunette decided that it was in her best interest to try and complete her schoolwork before classes started.

* * *

**Author's Note: I would just like to take a few more seconds of your time to say that _Pokemon X_ and _Pokemon Y_ are being released October 12, 2013. I have been a fan of the _Pokemon_ franchise since I was a child so I pre-ordered _Pokemon X_. I am not expecting to receive the game the day of release since I ordered it from Amazon (the confirmation message said I'd get it anytime between October 21-October 28), so I am going to be taking all the days before I get the game to write as many chapters as I can since I do expect the game to take up most of my time until I beat the Elite Four. This should not affect updates at all. If anything, it will affect my already questionable writing ability since I am going to be getting as many chapters as possible completed in a rather short amount of time (I'll be honest, this is going to be a challenge since I generally write one chapter per week, one and a half if I'm lucky, and two if the moon and stars are perfectly aligned). As always, I will edit (and possibly rewrite) the oncoming chapters to the best of my ability, but please forgive me if grammatical errors get overlooked (I'm sure so many grammatical errors for just these four chapters have gone unnoticed and I apologize for that). I hope you all have a wonderful week and I'll see you Sunday, October 13, 2013.**


	5. Chapter 5

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own nor am I in any way, shape, or form affiliated with Vampire Knight.**

**Author's Note: I deeply apologize for not updating last Sunday. There was so much more I had to tweak in this chapter than I originally thought. On top of that, I came down with an illness and didn't even want to attempt to edit this chapter. I apologize for any errors I missed when I edited the chapter. Then I, rather unexpectedly, obtained _Pokemon Y _and that took over my life for a few days. _Pokemon X_ arrived the other day and is currently sitting in its plastic wrapping just waiting to be opened. Overall, it's just been a rather, "I don't want to do anything" week. I apologize for that and I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

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Kaien had taken Rie and Kozakura to the gymnasium once school had ended for the day to see their fighting abilities for himself. The blonde was currently in the middle of a fight with the brunette and he was shocked that her skills in martial arts were as good as they were. Rie knew just how to retaliate against a majority of his attacks. There were a few times she slipped up and Kaien got the upper hand and, when that happened, she waited for him to make a mistake then exploited it and got the advantage. The two ceased their spar when the headmaster was positive that she'd be able to hold her own against the Night Class if they ever got too far out of line. Kaien didn't fail to notice how strong she was and had a creeping suspicion that there was more to her story than simply being trained in martial arts for years. He made a mental note to look more into her past.

"Your skills exceeded my expectations, Wakahisa-san," Kaien told her once he had caught his breath. "Just don't hurt my precious vampires too much if they get out of line. Kaname-kun punishes them hard enough, you don't need to add physical injuries on top of it."

Rie looked at the headmaster as if he had grown two heads since it wasn't everyday she heard someone call vampires, "precious". If anything, the stereotype they'd been given as beasts in human form was far more accurate since they did drink blood and needed to at least a few times per month so they wouldn't be overcome with thirst; it also helped to strengthen their powers and if a vampire went without blood for awhile their abilities would be fairly weak. Even if a vampire did drink someone's blood, their thirst would not be fully quenched until they drank from the person they loved the most.

"Sis, you should probably get going," Kozakura's voice pulled Rie out of her thoughts. "Curfew starts soon and Yuki-san will need all the help she can get."

"Will you be okay on your own," the brunette inquired.

"Yes," she replied. "The headmaster's not that bad."

"Alright," Rie said. "Remember that your weapon is not a toy."

"Quit worrying, I'll be fine," the redhead offered her a kind smile.

Rie bade Kozakura farewell before she turned and headed towards the door to the girl's locker room to change back into her uniform. She picked up her pace when she saw the headmaster grab a fencing épée, the brunette had no intention of being near either of the two when they were going to be sparring. Not to mention, she had a feeling that Kaien would ask her to help out with Kozakura's training if she had stayed in the gymnasium with them.

Rie went to her gym locker and promptly changed into her school uniform. It wasn't lightweight by any means since they were so far up north, so it did nothing to help her cool off. The brunette hadn't realized how sweaty and warm she was until she had put the uniform's jacket on. Rie decided that she'd take a shower before classes started tomorrow. When she had finished changing and placed her gym clothes in the rather small space, she closed the small metal door to her locker and locked it. Rie made sure her hair was securely up in her usual chignon and her necklace was still in place before she hurried to the gate that led to the Moon Dormitory.

Since Zero had yet to show up for their guardian duties and Kozakura was most likely still being trained by the headmaster, Yuki decided that she and Rie would go their separate ways for the night. Yuki had tasked her with patrolling the area around the school building and Sun Dormitories since she figured the other brunette would be more familiar with that part of campus. Rie had no choice but to trust Yuki's judgment since she had been a prefect for far longer than she had.

Rie walked the halls of the school building and couldn't help but notice how quiet it was without at least one other person. She was used to the hallways bustling with life and hearing more than just her own footsteps echo off the wooden floor. After a few minutes, the brunette found that she didn't care about the lack of noise as much as she originally thought since it gave her more time to think. She also wouldn't have to try as hard to sense if there was someone nearby that wasn't supposed to be since a human's presence was far different than a vampire's. To a vampire, a human's presence screamed prey and they often had scents that were associated with things that brought life or things that thrived from sunlight, like plants, while a vampire's presence and smell to another vampire would changing depending on how much human blood one had. For example, a pureblood, a vampire who has no human blood, would have a very commanding and heavy presence to any vampire with even a drop of human blood in them and their scent would be nearly nonexistent while a former human who lost all reason would have the scent of decay and have a very similar feel to an aggressive dog. A Level D, a human who had been turned into a vampire who still had their sanity, was harder to identify since they still felt quite similar to a human. Their differences were so slim that it would be quite difficult, if not impossible, for someone who wasn't accustomed to their aura to identify. Rie wondered why that was and reasoned that it was because they were still quite close to being a human.

Rie was drawn out of her thoughts when she heard a thud. She hurried towards where the sound had come from and was prepared to scold whoever had made the noise. The brunette turned a corner and saw Zero on the floor, his back against one of the walls. Rie opened her mouth to ask him why he hadn't been at the gate earlier, but quickly closed it when she noticed that he was paler than normal and appeared to be sweating. He looked like he had come down with an illness.

"Are you alright, Kiryu-kun," she inquired, concern laced her words.

"Yeah," he replied as he shakily got to his feet.

"You look horrible," Rie bluntly told him. "Get to bed before you get any worse."

Despite what she'd like to believe, Rie knew that Zero wouldn't listen to her and would do whatever he wished as she walked passed him. The only reason she thought he'd taken her words into consideration was the sound of his fading footsteps in the direction opposite of her. Rie couldn't help but wonder why he had collapsed when he seemed perfectly healthy, his heartbeat had sounded normal. She knew better than to dwell on it for too long since it really wasn't her place to worry about his well-being, they weren't friends after all.

Rie exited the building and looked up at the night sky. The moon was high up in the sky and she deduced that it was at least eleven. She wondered how Kozakura's training session with the headmaster had gone, probably not well if her clumsiness had anything to say about it. The brunette made a mental note to ask her friend in the morning. Although she had a feeling that Kozakura would have a decent amount of complaining prepared since the rapier probably wasn't the easiest weapon to master.

Rie was drawn out of her thoughts when the scent of blood hit her nose. Her gray eyes turned crimson as they widened at the sudden smell and her throat constricted, making it hard for her to breathe. The brunette fell to the ground as she attempted to calm herself, her body shook with each painful breath she took. Rie clenched her eyes shut when another person's blood was carried on the breeze and her throat burned even more painfully; she longed to sink her fangs into someone's neck.

The brunette closed her hands into fists in an attempt to distract herself from the primal urge, her fingernails dug into the soft skin of her palms. She was a Level B, an aristocrat, she shouldn't be reacting this strongly to the scent of blood. Although, she couldn't even remember the last time she had had blood and figured that it had been quite some time. Rie knew that was the only reason she was reacting so strongly to the fragrance.

Rie knew that she couldn't allow herself to give in to her instincts. She could only imagine what the repercussions would be if she did. The brunette could feel her nails dig further into her palms as she resisted the urge, the skin broke the more she clenched her fists. Rie's eyes shot open when she smelled her own blood. She opened her hands and looked at her palms, she noticed that the self-inflicted wounds weren't healing. It also didn't escape her notice that her blood smelled like that of a vampire, one thing she had hoped the pendant she hadn't taken off since she left the orphanage would've helped with. Apparently she had been wrong and it only helped disguise her aura, not what her blood smelled like. If that was the case, then she was positive the other vampires on campus realized that there was a noble who wasn't a part of their class at the school. Rie knew that she had to move fast on the chance they came to investigate.

Rie picked herself up off the ground and headed towards her dormitory, hoping the injuries on her hands would heal before she arrived at the dorm. She knew that it was pointless to wish for her eyes to go back to normal since the color would stay until she had some blood. The brunette looked down at her hands as she walked and noticed that they still weren't healing. Rie wondered if her own blood would help calm the burn in her throat as she brought one of her hands to her mouth. She hesitantly licked the beads off her palm and felt the tightness in her throat dissipate as soon as the droplets hit her tongue. Rie hated the taste of her own blood, but she knew that it was better than losing her self-control. She cleaned her other hand of blood to ensure that the trail would end before she got to the dormitory.

Rie looked down at her palms as she neared the dorm and was glad to see that the wounds had closed. They weren't fully healed due to her lack of blood intake, but she knew that it was better than nothing. The brunette would have to be careful not to reopen them until they were finished and she had no idea how long that would take, faster than a human's, but far longer than a vampire's normal healing process which could take anywhere from a few seconds to a few hours, depending on the severity of the injury.

Rie entered the girl's dorm and quietly made her way to her room. She felt bad about leaving Yuki to deal with the rest of patrol by herself, but she knew the other girl would understand. The brunette wasn't surprised to find the door to the room unlocked, she knew that Kozakura had a tendency to forget things like that. Rie entered the room and saw that the redhead was at her desk doing homework, a rather shocking sight. Kozakura generally either didn't do her homework or would wait until minutes before class started to complete it.

"How was patrol, Sis," Kozakua inquired when she heard the door close.

"It was fine," she replied. "How did training go with Headmaster Cross?"

"It was," the redhead turned to look over at the brunette. "Horrible! He started going on and on about how the other students are going to hate us for being a part of the disciplinary committee and how we'll have to stay up all night and fail our classes!"

"Oh," was all Rie could manage to make herself say as she moved over to the closet.

"And you know what else," Kozakura questioned.

"Hm?" The brunette opened the closet and rummaged through it for her pajamas.

"I'll have to train with him every night until I master the rapier," she informed her friend. "Meaning I won't be able to make the chocolate for St. Xocolatl's Day or get to give any to anyone!"

"And, let me guess, you want me to do something," Rie took a set of pajamas off a hanger.

"Could you maybe make the chocolate and hand it to him for me," Kozakura asked as she watched her friend enter the attached bathroom.

Rie didn't reply as she changed into her blue pajamas since she saw no reason to answer. She knew that what Kozakura was asking wasn't entirely unreasonable since she wouldn't be able to do it herself. It was more of an annoyance if anything since she'd end up having to get more involved in the holiday than she already was. The brunette had little, if any, interest in romance or anything to do with love meaning she didn't care one bit for St. Xocolatl's Day.

"There's always next year," Rie informed her friend as she exited the bathroom with her uniform in hand. She put her uniform in the hamper in the corner of the room.

"But the Night Class might not be here next year," the redhead told her.

Rie sighed as she realized that there was no way she'd be able to talk herself out of this. No matter what she said, in the end, she knew that Kozakura would get her to do as she wished. "Okay."

"Thanks, you're the best, Sis," Kozakura beamed at her before she returned to her homework. Rie could only weakly smile back in response before she decided to start her own schoolwork.


	6. Chapter 6

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own nor am I in any way, shape, or form affiliated with Vampire Knight.**

**Author's Note: I have not been feeling well the entire day, so the editing was rather rushed because I wanted to get this chapter out on time in my timezone (although it is pretty last minute here). I probably should start editing chapters a day or so beforehand... heh... Anyways... I hope you enjoy!**

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Rie was in the dorm's kitchen preparing the chocolate truffles she had promised to make. She had put off the task until the night before St. Xocolatl's Day and was glad that the kitchen had been left open. The brunette had managed to find boxes to put the chocolate in and ribbon in one of the cabinets, probably the headmaster's way of encouraging the event. Rie could only guess how popular the event was if the headmaster had gone out of his way to provide boxes and ribbon. If it was as popular as she thought, she was not looking forward to all the noise the Day Class girls were bound to make.

Rie placed the truffles in a box when they were completed and tied white ribbon around the box then placed them in the fridge. She knew that the fridge wasn't the safest place for them to be, but she hoped that no one took them otherwise she was positive Kozakura would be upset that her crush, whoever he may be, hadn't gotten them. The brunette wondered who her friend wanted the chocolate to go to and she knew that she'd find out by the time classes were over. Rie wasn't looking forward to having to confront someone who she herself didn't like, but that was one of the things she had to go through in her friendship with the redhead.

Rie looked at the clock on the wall and saw that classes were set to start in an hour, not enough time to get any sleep. It seemed that this might be her first day of sleeping in class. She went to her dorm room and saw that Kozakura was already up, which was something that was rather astonishing to see since the redhead normally slept until they only had five minutes to get to class and refused to be woken up until then.

"Good morning, Sister," Kozakura greeted her with a bright smile.

"Good morning, Koko-chan," Rie grabbed her bag from the floor. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yep," the redhead exclaimed as she gathered her things. "Did you get the chocolate done?"

"Yes, they're sitting in the refrigerator as we speak," the brunette replied as they left their room.

"Good," Kozakura replied as they moved towards the stairs at the end of the hall.

Rie and Kozakura noticed how eerily quiet the dorm was and found it unusual since people generally left for class at this time. The two girls wondered if those who lived in the dorm were finishing up their chocolate handouts. It wouldn't be all that surprising since it was St. Xocolatl's Day, but something about it didn't sit quite right with the brunette. If that was the case, then the dorm would be buzzing with life, especially near the kitchen that was near the staircase on the first floor. Then again, there was also a kitchen the students had access to in the school building, but Rie highly doubted any of the girls would wait until the last minute to finish up their chocolate.

When the two exited the dorm, they heard a whistle sound from the direction of the Moon Dormitory. Rie knew that Yuki would be the only one to blow a whistle to get a crowd's attention since Zero was able to control a group of people with just a glance. The brunette had a feeling that the girls who wanted to confess their feelings to students in the Night Class were the reason a whistle was blown and rushed off in that direction. Rie grabbed the armband from her bag as she ran and promptly pulled it up onto her arm. She had a feeling that the girls were going to be far less cooperative than usual.

When she arrived at the scene, she saw Yuki lowering herself from the stone wall that surrounded the dormitory and Zero glaring at the girls that stood there, each with a small box of chocolate in their hands. Rie sighed, relieved that it didn't appear to be anything too serious.

"The Nigh Class never leaves the dorm during the day," Zero's voice sounded above the noise the girls were making. "If you have something to give them, come back at dusk, when they come out to attend class. If you continue to make such a fuss, this event may get canceled."

They Day Class girls yelled at Zero as they moved towards the school building. Most of them called him names while others simply stated that he was far too mean.

"You don't have to say things that make all the girls hate you," Yuki sighed as she approached him.

"Even you have to admit that it was a rather effective method," Rie walked over to the two as she took off her armband.

"That may be true," she replied. "But now Zero won't even get friendship chocolate."

"What do you want me to do then," Zero looked over at Yuki, annoyance written on his face. "Our role is to make sure that the Day Class don't find out the truth about the Night Class."

Yuki was at a loss of what to say since she knew that they were right, being mean was rather effective at getting the Day Class to back off when it came to the Night Class. That still didn't mean she thought it was necessary or that there weren't other ways. She knew that there must be some other way to dissuade them from wanting to bother the Night Class, but she had no idea what would do it. Yuki was secretly hoping that they'd just eventually get over their obsession and move onto something else that interested them.

"Oh, that reminds me, the headmaster wanted to see us," she took off in the direction of the school building before either of them could reply.

The three came across Kozakura on their way to the school building and mentioned the meeting to her. She followed them to the headmaster's office on the top floor of the school building. Yuki knocked twice on the door before she led the other three into the room. Kozakura closed the door before she joined the others in front of the headmaster's desk. Yuki stood in the middle, Zero was on Yuki's left, Rie on her right, and Kozakura took her place next to Rie. Kaien sat at his desk with his elbows resting on the surface and his hands were intertwined with each other.

"So, today is St. Xocolatl's Day. The whole school is excited about it," the headmaster began, his voice was serious and compelled them to listen. "Something may happen that will reveal the Night Class' secret. Please be more on guard than usual, school guardians!"

"Yes, Headmaster," Yuki shot her right arm up in the air, nearly hitting Rie in the process.

"Of course, sir," Rie replied.

"Right," a determined look appeared on Kozakura's face.

"You could just cancel the event," Zero told Kaien.

"If I do that, there will be a riot," the headmaster calmly informed the youth. "It's because our vampires are all so beautiful and excellent that everyone's making such a fuss."

An enraged look etched itself onto Zero's face as the words left the headmaster's mouth. Yuki looked over at her childhood friend and was not at all surprised to see his expression. "Don't praise those bastards in front of me," she turned her gaze to the headmaster. "That's what he's thinking."

"R-right," Kaien stood up and turned around to look out the window directly behind him. "Vampires and humans have been enemies for as long as anyone can remember, but there are some vampires who want to coexist peacefully. I'm honored that I can teach the children of such families. That way, they can become the bridge between vampires and humans. I want you to eventually understand my way of thinking, Kiryu-kun."

"That's impossible," Zero looked anywhere he could that wasn't the headmaster. "My past can't be erased."

"Because they're beasts in human form," the blonde inquired.

The tension in the room was thick enough to be cut with a knife and it made the occupants rather uneasy. Rie was uncomfortable with the situation since it felt as though she and Kozakura were invading a rather private moment. She looked over at her friend and noticed how anxious the redhead was. The brunette turned her attention over to Yuki and saw how she was at a loss of how to erase the thick atmosphere. If the ever cheerful and helpful prefect didn't know how to diffuse tension then it would probably be best for those who weren't involved to leave the area.

Without a second thought, Rie grasped Kozakura's wrist and pulled her out of the office. She quietly closed the door behind them then walked to the staircase where she released the redhead's arm. The brunette could practically feel the unease leave their bodies as they got further away from the headmaster's office.

"What was that about, Sis," Kozakura questioned as they continued on to the hall that had the first year classrooms.

"I don't know," Rie replied. "Besides, it's not our place to pry. So don't go around asking questions."

"Of course," the redhead replied as they turned a corner.

They arrived at their classroom in a few more seconds and entered the room. The two noticed that all their classmates were already there and class was set to start in a minute. Kozakura took her seat in the back row near the window while Rie went to a place at the front of the room. The teacher walked into the room and took his place at the podium placed in front of the board a few seconds before classes were set to start.

School passed by far too quickly for Rie's liking since it meant she'd be forced to deal with the obnoxious girls and vampires soon. She'd also have to hand the boy Kozakura had a crush on the chocolate she had made, another thing she wasn't looking forward to. That wasn't even mentioning how the redhead would probably just give her the bare minimum of information as to who to give it to. All she hoped was that there'd be more to go off of than, "the one with the eyes" since a majority of the population had that feature.

Rie had already put her school supplies into her bag and had just put her armband on when Kozakura approached her. She looked over at her friend and didn't fail to notice the rather serious expression on her face. It seemed the redhead was just as committed to this event as a majority of the Day Class girls were. It was rather unsettling to see her so serious about something so frivolous.

"He has blonde hair," Kozakura informed her. "You better not mess it up!"

Rie left the classroom shortly after her friend had fled as she thought about the information she had been given. There were only three Night Class students that had blonde hair, one of which looked orange. She knew that she could rule Kain out since he seemed far too even tempered for Kozakura's liking. That left Aidou and Ichijou. From what Rie had observed, Aidou was rather careless and flirty while Ichijou was more quiet and approachable. She had a feeling that the little bits of information she had obtained about their personalities wouldn't be of much help in deciding who Kozakura had wanted to give the chocolate to since both of them seemed rather human to different degrees. Not to mention the brunette knew very little of what the redhead's type was since it seemed to change every so often. Ultimately, she still only had a fifty percent chance of guessing correctly.

Rie sighed as she grabbed the box of truffles out of the dorm's refrigerator. She knew that this was far more trouble than it was worth and a part of her questioned why she was even going through with it. The answer was, of course, very simple. Sometimes friendships forced you to do things you didn't want to do. With that thought in mind, Rie dropped her bag off at her room then headed to the Moon Dormitory.

Small gates like ones seen at carnivals were set up on both sides of the path that led to the dorm. Each gate had a sign standing above it, each with the name of a different student written on the surface. The Day Class girls were standing obediently behind the gates, eagerly waiting to give their designated person the box of chocolate held in their hands. Yuki and Zero stood a few meters in front of the Moon Dorm's gate, the brunette had a rather serious look on her face while her partner looked less than enthused. Rie was walking up and down the path, ensuring that the Day Class students continued to behave themselves.

The door to the Moon Dorm creaked open and, once the Night Class students were in full view, the girls were no longer able to contain their excitement and began to yell the name of their favorite person. Rie blew the whistle that Yuki had insisted she have for the event. The harsh sound made the girls turn their attention over to her and look at her with narrowed eyes for a few seconds, just enough time for Yuki to explain the event's rules to the Night Class without having to speak over their loud voices.

Their silence didn't last more than that since Aidou had decided to rush to his gate and the girls who wanted to give him chocolate cheered him on, but he couldn't get more than a few steps before Kaname made his way to the front of the group and stopped him. "Behave yourself," was all the brunet said.

Yuki thanked the pureblood before she ran up the path until she was perfectly in the middle of all the gates. She brought out her own whistle and blew it twice to signal the start of the event. The boys of the Night Class went to their gates while the girls continued on to the school building.

Rie helped Yuki keep the students in line until she remembered that she had been tasked with giving someone chocolate. The brunette was still at a loss of who they were meant for since her friend hadn't given her much to go off of and thinking about who the chocolate was supposed to be given to hadn't been her primary concern. If she were being honest, figuring out who to give the box to still wasn't something she cared about enough to do, but she knew that Kozakura wouldn't be pleased if she were to find out the chocolate hadn't been handed to the designated person. Rie realized that she'd rather not face Kozakura's wrath, but she'd still be risking it if she gave the box to the wrong student. The brunette ultimately decided that the best course of action to decide who the chocolates were meant for was to observe the two she had narrowed it down to.

Rie turned her attention over to Ichijou and watched him accept the chocolates the girls presented to him. He had a friendly smile on his face as he took the boxes from them. Even when his arms were full, he kept graciously accepting the chocolate. The only thing that took his attention away from the students was Shiki passing him. The blonde had noticed that the mahogany haired boy wasn't holding any boxes then dragged him over to his gate so he could accept the gifts. Once he was positive that Shiki would stay at the gate, he returned to his own and went back to accepting the chocolate held out to him.

She then turned her gaze to Aidou who was gleefully taking the boxes from the girls in his gate. For a vampire, he sure was delighted with the frivolous event. He truly did treat it like the contest Yuki had made it out to be too. It was rather amusing to see a vampire raised in such a political society act so human. What ruined that amusement was when he asked one of the students what their blood type was.

Rie rushed over to him as soon as the words left his mouth and blew the whistle when she was right behind him. "The rules state that you can only accept someone's chocolate," she reminded him. "You are not allowed to ask any personal questions. Make sure that it doesn't happen again, Aidou-senpai."

"Alright," he replied with an underlay of irritation.

"Good."

Rie turned around and began to walk away from him, but stopped before she could get more than five steps. She remembered that he was there the night she had snuck out to meet Kozakura at the sakura tree closest to the school building. The brunette wondered if maybe he was the one her friend had wanted to give the chocolate to. She had been positive that his appearance at the tree had been a mere coincidence, but her certainty wavered since she knew that Kozakura sometimes snuck out of their dorm by herself. The brunette had no idea if her friend had met anyone when she roamed campus alone, but she wouldn't be surprised if that had happened. Due to that, Rie wondered if maybe their meeting that day had been planned by the redhead to introduce the two to each other. If that was the case, it would make sense as to why Kozakura had always pushed her to meet the Night Class, but for what purpose she would introduce them to each other for was beyond her.

Rie knew that Aidou was the most likely option out of the two she had narrowed it down to, but she didn't like it one bit. He seemed like such a nuisance from what Zero had told her and what she'd witnessed. Rie knew that she'd just have to ignore her own dislike for him and hand him the box. She knew that it'd be best to get it over with as soon as she could otherwise her resolve would fade and Kozakura would surely be upset.

Rie stuck her hand into the skirt's pocket and wrapped her fingers around the box. She hesitated on pulling it out since it wasn't traditional for the friend of the person who had feelings for the receiver to hand them the chocolate. Then again, it also went against tradition for the friend to make the chocolate, but that was a different matter. The brunette took a breath before she pulled the box out of her pocket then turned to face Aidou's gate. She had expected to see him there, but the spot he had stood in a minute ago was gone.

Rie looked around the area and saw that he was on his way to class with his cousin, Kain, by his side. She didn't hesitate when she took off after the pair. "Aidou-senpai," she called as she rushed down the path. The two came to a halt and turned to face her. Rie stopped and held the box out for the blonde to take when she had caught up to them. "You dropped this."

"Are you sure," he questioned as he took the chocolate from her and placed it on top of the pile in his arms.

"Positive," she replied. "Be more careful with gifts in the future, the girls would be devastated if their precious Idol-senpai lost them."

Rie didn't bother to wait for him to reply as she turned around and walked back to the gates. Her job was done and there was no reason for her to hang around him any longer. What she didn't expect was to be stopped by the very person she was walking away from.

"And you're positive you didn't make this for me," he inquired.

Rie took a deep calming breath before she answered. "I'm positive, Senpai. Now, if you don't mind, I have responsibilities I have to attend to."

"You're so cruel, Ms. Disciplinary Committee," Aidou told her. "You're not even going to apologize?"

"Apologize?" Rie turned around to face him, anger clear on her face. "You were breaking the rules!"

"Let's go, Hanabusa," Kain said before his cousin could open his mouth again and annoy the brunette even more.

"Just a second, Akatsuki," the blonde looked at the brunette with an expression she couldn't decipher. "You may want to be more careful, Ms. Disciplinary Committee, you never know who's watching."

Rie watched the two resume their trek to the school building. There was one thing she was absolutely certain of. Aidou had at least an inkling that she wasn't a human. She would not allow him or anyone else to put the pieces together and inform the headmaster or Kaname about her true nature. Rie would have to follow his advice and be far more careful and controlled to ensure that no one would identify her as a beast in human form.

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**Author's Note: If any of you are confused by my usage of, "brunet" for Kaname, the reason is simple. Brunet is the masculine form of brunette. If I'm being honest, I myself only learned that a few months ago. It was a rather helpful discovery for writing though. For some reason, I had immense difficulty writing this chapter so I'm not very happy with it. I've no clue why, but I do hope that the other chapters are far easier to write. Until next time.**


	7. Chapter 7

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own nor am I in any way, shape, or form affiliated with Vampire Knight.**

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Classes had ended early the day after St. Xocolatl's Day so the guardians could perform the monthly dorm inspections. Each student knew that a dorm inspection was a more polite way of saying routine confiscation of drugs, cigarettes, alcohol, photos of the Night Class, belongings of the Night Class, et cetera. None of the students were exactly pleased with these dorm inspections since the guardians had to go through their belongings and search for any sort of secret compartment to find what they were told to confiscate. The students who had nothing to hide complied with the inspections and allowed the guardians to search their room without a fuss, but the ones who had something to hide were less than cooperative. Students who had things to hide always tried to get the disciplinary committee out of their room as quickly as possible.

Rie, Kozakura, and Yuki had been assigned with the task of confiscating things from the girl's dormitory while Zero had to deal with the boy's dormitory. The girls were far more uncooperative than the boy's during these inspections and made their task a lot more difficult than it needed to be. The dorm president did her best to get the residents to cooperate, but only a few listened to her.

The disciplinary committee used laundry carts to collect the items they confiscated and they often had to deal with students digging through them to get whatever was taken from them back. Each student who went through the carts was reported to the headmaster so he could give them either a punishment or lecture at a later date. First offenders generally received a warning while those who had dug through the carts three or more times were given a proper punishment.

It took the prefects over four hours to confiscate everything they could find from the Sun Dormitories. The four congregated to a classroom on the first floor of the school building when they had filled their carts. Zero simply dropped his off than left before anyone could say anything. His cart only carried a few boxes of cigarettes while the carts the girls had held albums upon albums of photos of the Night Class. All that was left for them to do with the items on hand was to compile them into a bag or two and take them to the incinerator to be burned.

"We have to do this quickly," Yuki spoke as they started to put the items into a laundry bag. "We still have to inspect the Moon Dorm before nightfall."

Kozakura noticed that it was already dusk so there was only an hour or two before night fell. If Zero had stayed, they probably would have been able to finish the task with enough time left to inspect the Moon Dormitory, but, as it was, there was no telling how long it would take them to complete their job.

"Why don't you and Kiryu-kun go inspect the Moon Dorm," Kozakura suggested after careful consideration.

"Are you sure," Yuki inquired.

"Yes," the redhead replied. "Rie and I can handle things here."

"Okay," she agreed. "The incinerator is in the basement, just ask the headmaster for the key."

Yuki left once she had finished her sentence, leaving the two friends alone. Kozakura had every intention of asking Rie about who she had given the chocolate to and why she hated vampires, even if she didn't want to answer. There was no way for her to avoid either of the questions since she wouldn't just walk away from the task that had been entrusted to them. The redhead knew that her friend could simply choose not to answer, but she hoped that Rie would tell her.

"So who'd you give the chocolate to," Kozakura asked when she was sure Yuki was out of hearing range.

"Aidou-senpai," Rie replied. "He is the one you like, correct?"

"Oh, uh, yes." The redhead wasn't about to tell her friend that she had guessed incorrectly. She knew that Rie probably had a pretty hard time figuring out who to give the chocolate to. Besides there was always next year for her to either give chocolate to the person she liked herself or for the brunette to get it right.

"Good," the brunette relaxed at the affirmation, no matter how uncertain it sounded.

The two worked in silence for a few minutes as Kozakura wondered how to phrase her next question. She knew that there was no way to avoid being blunt about it, but she felt like it'd be far too much like digging for information on Rie's past. The two had agreed not to ask about each other's pasts since Kozakura had been at the orphanage for as long as she could remember and Rie had no intention of ever revealing hers. Kozakura knew that she still had to try in order to better understand vampires and why her friend had no warm feelings for her own kind.

"Hey, Rie, mind if I ask you something," she spoke up once the brunette had dropped the album into the bag.

"What is it," she inquired as she grabbed another album.

"Why do you hate vampires?"

Rie didn't falter in her actions as the question registered in her mind. "It's not important."

"But there's no reason to," Kozakura told her. "They have those tablets to control their hunger and they don't cause problems for humans."

"Your knowledge of vampires is limited," Rie reminded her. "You don't know how the rest are."

"But I-!"

"Drop it," the brunette interrupted. Her tone clearly said that there was no room for discussion and it would be wise to never bring it up again. Kozakura could do nothing but comply to her friend's wish on the matter.

The minutes ticked away in silence as they put each confiscated item in the two bags. Rie left to get the key from the headmaster when there were only a few more albums left. The brunette sensed a presence inside of the headmaster's office when she arrived and she recognized it as Kaname's. She couldn't allow her fear to stop her from completing her responsibility as a guardian so she raised her hand and tapped the door twice with her knuckles. Rie entered the office when she heard Kaien call her in.

"I need the key to the incinerator," she said as she walked in.

"Ah, yes," the headmaster opened one of his desk's drawers. "Yuki told me you'd be coming."

Kaname observed Rie out of the corner of his eye as the headmaster dug for the key. He could tell from her posture that she was uncomfortable being in the same room as him. The brunet wondered if her fear stemmed from her presence that no one in the Night Class could identify since she didn't feel or smell like either a vampire or a human. He had not allowed her peculiarities to go unchecked and had asked his right-hand men, Aidou and Kain, to keep an eye on her. They had, of course, been told to keep their distance since she'd be able to sense them if they got too close to her if she were a vampire. What they had reported back with the other night had further confirmed his suspicions. Not to mention there had been the smell of an aristocrat's blood in the air the night one of the human students had gotten injured and Yuki had scraped the palm of her hand.

Kaname had enough evidence, albeit some was circumstantial, to transfer the girl into the Night Class. The brunet knew that he could use his position as a pureblood to give her an order and she'd be unable to disobey if she really were a beast in human form, thus giving him something concrete, but he had no intention of doing that. His only reasons for not acting until there was more concrete evidence he had no hand in were she hadn't bitten anyone and, most importantly, she was capable of helping Zero protect the one important to him. If there came a time when she was a danger to humans or she grew unfit to help protect his treasure, he'd take action. Until then, he was content to see how her involvement played out.

"Here it is," Kaien spoke when he found the key among the drawer's clutter.

"Thank you." The blonde held it out for her to take and she approached the desk then grabbed it from his hand. "I'll return it as soon as we're done."

Rie left the room without another word and closed the door behind her. She headed towards the classroom and the tension left her body with each step she took away from the pureblood. The brunette had not liked how Kaname had been studying her, no matter how discreetly he did so she had felt his eyes on her. If Aidou's words the other day had been a hint, she knew that the pureblood had been keeping tabs on her. The only other explanation for the blonde's warning was that he had figured it out and wasn't going to tell Kaname just yet. If that were the case, the brunet wouldn't have studied her so intently during her short time in the headmaster's office. It was more likely that he had only needed evidence to support his hypothesis.

What put Rie on edge more than anything was that Kaname hadn't acted on his suspicions. She remembered learning in her childhood that purebloods left nothing up to chance, especially if they had a goal to accomplish. She was an unexpected piece in his game and there was the possibility she'd ruin his plans, whatever they may be, if left unchecked. If anything, she was like a pawn that needed to be knocked off the chessboard as quickly as possible.

Rie decided that she'd do her best to stay under the radar as she entered the classroom where Kozakura was waiting. The brunette showed her friend the key and they each grabbed a bag then headed to the basement. She unlocked the door that led to the bottom floor of the school and they carefully descended the staircase. Since the school building had been built quite some time ago, there weren't any lights for them to turn on, there were small windows at the top of the walls to let in light instead.

The incinerator was hardly ever used to the girl's knowledge and was only turned on to burn the items the disciplinary committee confiscated from the students. It laid against the back wall of the basement and the two had resorted to dragging the heavy bags across the cement floor. The contraption actually looked far more like a wood stove than an incinerator. There was a box of matches set on a corner table a few feet to the right of the stove.

Rie opened the stove's small metal door and peeked inside. She didn't see any ashes, so that probably meant they were expected to clean it out once the fire died.

"Go and patrol," she told Kozakura. "I can handle this."

"Are you sure," the redhead inquired. "Because I can..."

"I'm sure," Rie cut her friend off. "Besides you need the experience."

Kozakura could see the brunette's point, she did need to get used to patrolling since her training with the headmaster wouldn't last forever. The two also didn't know if Zero and Yuki were patrolling so it was a necessity for one of them to walk the grounds. Burning all the banned items seemed more like a one person job since the stove wasn't all that big and it'd probably be difficult for two people to shove the objects into it simultaneously.

"Okay," Kozakura agreed. "Just be careful."

"Don't worry about me," Rie said. "Remember to be on your guard. There's no telling what will happen tonight, or any night for that matter."

"Right," the redhead replied. "I'll see you in the morning?"

"Of course," the brunette offered her friend a small smile.

Kozakura gave her own smile in return before she walked up the stairs and left the basement. Rie knew it had been for the best to send the redhead out to patrol since she'd most likely be hesitant about destroying the albums. Most of the pictures they had seen were actually quite good, but it was still against the rules to take them, much less have one in your possession. There was also the possibility that, if the pictures weren't destroyed, the students would just search for them until they were back in their ownership so procrastination wasn't something they could afford to do when it came to the photos.

It had been a few hours since Rie had started throwing all of the banned items they had collected into the fire that burned inside the stove. It was during that time she came to wish she had the ability to control fire since it would mean the burning would most likely be finished by now. If she had been born with that power, this particular task probably would have been completed within a few minutes, but, instead, she had been born with telekinesis, a fairly useful ability for battle or running away from an attacker but hardly handy for anything else.

Rie was drawn out of her thoughts when the fire began to dwindle. She focused her power on the small metal door and it creaked open. The brunette realized telekinesis was more helpful with mundane tasks than she originally thought as she threw a few more albums into the flames. She used her ability to close the door once again then watched the blaze slowly consume the scrapbooks, leaving nothing but ash in their wake.

As she watched the flames, she couldn't help but theorize why she had not been granted the ability to manipulate fire. Even if used with good intentions, fire was dangerous and unpredictable. An uncontrolled fire could turn into an inferno and burn everything in its path, it wouldn't stop until everything in its way was in ruins. On the other hand, fire could provide warmth and a source of light. It had also been used by humans to cook food before electricity came into existence. Fire had been an essential element for life for quite some time. Rie supposed that only those who were calm and controlled like the flames that helped with life in the old days, but could also be as alive as an unforgiving inferno would be gifted with that ability.

The more she thought, the more she realized why she had been born with telekinesis. Since telekinesis was the psychic ability to move objects at will, it made sense to her that one had to be unyielding, never conforming to what someone else wanted for them. They had to stand firm in their opinions and do what they thought was best for themself. A person who had been granted that gift would have to have the will to move every opposing force in their path to reach their goal. After thinking it over, Rie came to the conclusion that telekinesis suited her just fine.

The brunette was forced out of her thoughts when the scent of blood wafted into her nostrils. Almost as if by second nature, she used her ability to close the basement door and moved the key to lock it. Rie didn't see anything that she could move to form a blockade to help ensure she wouldn't be able to leave and she could hardly concentrate on finding anything since it felt like she was choking with each breath she took. She knew that she'd have to wait there until her blood lust passed, but she had no idea how long that would be since the amount of blood that was carried by the air was rather large in comparison to anything she'd encountered in the past. Rie could only hope that no one would have to visit the basement since she had a feeling she'd have to stay there until she was sure she'd be able to control herself.

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**Author's Note: Rie had waited all this time for Senpai to notice her existence and, when he finally did, she was not pleased at all. Everyone else would be pleased when Senpai noticed them, but God forbid Rie be happy with Senpai noticing her. No, this is not confirmation for a Kaname and Rie relationship, it's merely me poking fun at things. Kaname belongs with his chessboard because, even after getting its pieces destroyed, the chessboard stays under Kaname's pillow. It is his security blanket so to speak, not even Yuki can replace that. Now that I've gotten completely random, I'm gonna go. Until next time.**


	8. Chapter 8

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own nor am I in any way, shape, or form affiliated with Vampire Knight.**

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Kozakura hadn't seen Rie since Saturday night and she had grown increasingly worried. She had no idea why her friend wasn't in class or hadn't even visited their room in the few days she'd been missing. Kozakura had tried the door to the basement Sunday night, but it had been locked so she doubted that Rie was still there. The redhead had checked the infirmary Monday morning on the chance she had gotten injured or was ill, but to no avail. She had then asked the headmaster if he had seen her during their daily training session, but he claimed he hadn't since he had given her the basement key. It was almost as if Rie had dropped off the face of the earth.

Kozakura had absolutely no idea where Rie could be since the academy didn't have a lot of places to hide. The only place she hadn't checked was the Moon Dormitory and she didn't feel all that comfortable going into the vampire's living quarters alone. She also found it highly unlikely her friend would be there since Rie had done everything she could to avoid the Night Class until she had been made a guardian. Even after that the brunette still did her absolute best to avoid the other vampires at the academy.

When Kozakura had shown up for her training session with Kaien after school on Tuesday, he had told her to perform her guardian duties and her training would resume once a schedule had been agreed upon for who patrolled each night. The redhead had complied to the order and had rushed to the Moon Dormitory to help keep the Day Class students under control. Zero wasn't at the gate and Yuki was struggling more than usual to keep the girls under control. Kozakura had noticed the bandage that covered the left side of the brunette's neck and wondered what had happened, but knew that it wasn't her place to ask. She had a feeling that she already knew what had caused the injury since the school had vampires as students. It made sense that one of them would bite someone eventually and Kozakura could only hope that the offender had received an appropriate punishment.

Kozakura returned to the dorm after patrolling that night and wasn't shocked to see that Rie still hadn't returned. Although she wanted her friend to return, she wasn't looking forward to it since she hadn't exactly kept the room as clean as the brunette would want it. There was clothing strewn about the room from the redhead's search for her spare uniform the other day and she hadn't had time to put everything back in its place.

Kozakura picked up the few pieces of clothing that had somehow landed on her desk and put them in the closet before she grabbed her schoolwork then sat down at the desk. As she worked, she wondered just how Rie balanced her homework, keeping their room tidy, and guardian duties when she had issues with just homework and training. Their job started at dusk and ended at dawn each and every day which meant that they weren't given much time to complete their course work and sleep. She wondered if the ability to easily balance quite a few different things came with being a vampire, but she had her doubts since Rie had been unable to successfully balance giving most of the younger children at the orphanage her undivided attention on quite a few occasions. Kozakura remembered how some of the kids did their best to avoid Rie because of the ominous aura she exuded.

When it was time to head for class, Kozakura had not completed her homework and just knew that the teacher would scold her again. She made sure she was presentable before she headed for the school building. The redhead felt odd walking around campus by herself since she was so used to Rie being by her side. The two had essentially become each other's shadows over the years since they were nearly always next to each other and it was unnatural, almost unheard of, for them to be seen without the other.

Kozakura did her best to ignore the few stares she received from a few of the students as she made her way to her homeroom. She knew that the people who glanced her way were most likely wondering why the brunette wasn't by her side three days in a row. If anything, she wanted that question to be answered far more than them.

The redhead went directly to her seat upon entering the classroom and looked at the clock that sat on the wall above the board. She saw that there was still ten minutes left until class started and knew that she had to try to complete the work within these last remaining minutes. Kozakura grabbed one of the unfinished worksheets out from her binder and started writing down her best guesses.

"Rie-san is still absent," the girl who had an assigned seat next to Kozakura inquired.

"Yeah," the redhead replied as she wrote down another answer.

"Do you have any idea what happened to her," Yui asked as she got her pen and notebook out of her bag.

"No," she answered.

"This sounds an awful lot like that incident Akira-senpai told me about," the black haired girl thought aloud.

Kozakura stopped writing mid-word and looked over at the other girl. "Incident?"

"You mean you haven't heard the rumors?" The redhead shook her head back and forth once. "Last year some girl who attended this academy disappeared without a trace. People claim that she went to the Moon Dorm on the night of her disappearance, but her roommate says that she doesn't remember where she was heading, just that she left the dorm. Akira-senpai told me that there was an investigation, but the police didn't find anything. It's like she just vanished."

The teacher walked in, signaling the start of class, as Kozakura processed the information Yui had given her. By the sound of it, the Night Class had something to do with that girl's disappearance. If that were true, it was baffling as to why the headmaster allowed them to continue attending the academy since that incident went against the peace he wanted for the two races. Although Kozakura hoped that there was a good reason for why the girl vanished. Maybe the girl had turned into one of those vampires that attacked indiscriminately, like the one that had gone after her and Rie a week ago. _Yes, that has to be it._ The redhead thought with a nod.

The day flew by and, before Kozakura knew it, dusk had fallen. The redhead headed to her room to grab her rapier then went to the locker room to get ready for her training session since Zero and Yuki had patrol that night. She changed into her gym clothing which consisted of a white t-shirt with the school's insignia in black over the left breast and a pair of black sweatpants. Kozakura put on a pair of white ankle high socks then slipped her feet into the white sneakers. The redhead grabbed a black elastic out of her locker and put her hair up into a ponytail.

Kozakura grabbed her rapier off of the bench then entered the gymnasium. She saw that Kaien was already there and was surprised to see that nothing had been set up. Normally he had a few training dummies made of cloth and straw placed in the room for her to practice her swordplay on. The lack of dummies meant she would either spar with him or have to run laps. Neither of those were particularly appealing since Kaien's skill with a sword was far superior than hers and she had never been fond of running.

"Let's go outside today," Kaien said upon seeing her.

Kozakura knew that meant she'd be doing laps that day as she followed him out the double doors that led outside. The all weather running track laid a few meters beyond those door and encircled a patch of grass that was used for football and soccer. It was made of black rubber and was around four meters long. The track had five different lanes, white paint had been used to mark them.

Kozakura headed for the third lane and began to jog. She hated how monotonous the laps were, but, whenever she complained, the headmaster claimed that it was better to run away than to fight. Since vampires were quite fast, she had to be able to outrun them and have the ability to go for long distances without stopping to rest. Kozakura doubted that would be ever be an issue since Rie was generally always by her side and was quite capable of taking down anyone who threatened them when she was at full strength. Due to that, she knew that she didn't need to be able to run quickly.

Kozakura felt that she only needed to be strong enough to fend off an assailant. She had felt so weak and helpless when the Level E had attacked and she never wanted to feel that way again. The redhead wanted to be able to defend herself if the need ever arose, not flee or freeze up.

Kozakura returned to her dorm room as soon as her training was over. She noticed that it was still empty and decided she'd scold Rie whenever she returned for leaving without any sort of explanation. It had been rather callous of the brunette to just disappear without telling anyone where she was going or when she'd return. Kozakura refused to believe that something had happened to her friend since, in her eyes, Rie was far too strong to allow anything to happen to her.

Kozakura grabbed her shower supplies and pajamas then headed to the dorm's showers. There was no one else there since it was rather late and the room would be locked until morning in about twenty minutes. She entered one of the stalls, the door swung shut behind her, and placed her belongings on the small triangular wooden bench in the corner. The redhead rid herself of her clothes then pushed them under the bench with her foot.

Kozakura turned the knob that controlled the shower and a spray of warm water hit her shortly after. She used a coconut scented soap to wash the grime from her skin and a berry scented shampoo for her hair. Kozakura rinsed the soaps from her body then turned off the shower. She grabbed her pink towel and used it to dry herself off. When she was positive there wasn't water clinging to her skin, she put on the oversized white t-shirt with a cartoon dog printed on the front and a pair of black pants.

Kozakura grabbed the dirty clothes out from under the bench then hoisted her shower bag up onto her shoulder. She exited the stall once she was sure that she had all her belongings. The redhead left the showers and went up to her room.

Kozakura threw her clothes into the laundry basket and placed her light purple bag next to the closet. She grabbed her hairbrush off the desk then went over to the mirror where she proceeded to brush out the tangles that had formed. Since her hair was generally very manageable, that task didn't take too long. The redhead placed her brush back on the corner of her desk when she was finished.

Kozakura turned off the light then got into her bed. She wondered why Rie had left without any sort of warning. The brunette was always responsible and would never cause anyone any unnecessary worry. The only reason that came to Kozakura's mind for her friend's unexplained absence was that Rie had somehow gotten into some kind of trouble, but she vehemently denied that. There was no way that Rie was on the run or in hiding or had gotten herself kidnapped or whatever. It was impossible.

Kozakura had no idea what she'd do if her friend never came back. The redhead didn't event want to think about what she'd do if Rie never returned. She could only hope that Rie came back soon.

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**Author's Note: I will be taking some time off from updating to write more content since I only have up to chapter 9 written. I really don't feel comfortable releasing that chapter and then having very little or absolutely nothing written for chapter 10 onwards. This break from updating will allow me to write without stressing out about it or feeling like I'm rushing through the writing process. I appreciate your understanding in the matter. If you want to stay updated, please check my profile, I'll update it whenever I've finished a chapter and when I know what the release date for chapter 9 will be. Both bits of information can easily be found since I do my best to keep my profile organized. I hope you've enjoyed this chapter and I hope to see you again in the next update!**


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